Thursday, May 28, 2009

A paramedic could face charges after a scuffle with a state trooper that was caught on cell phone camera.

It happened Sunday near Paden in Okfuskee County. That’s about 70 miles southwest of Tulsa.

Kenyada Davis’ mother was being transported in the ambulance and recorded the incident on his cell phone camera.“This highway patrolman pulled over my mom’s ambulance because he was mad we didn’t pull over and he’s trying to arrest the EMT from taking my mother to the hospital,” Davis is seen saying on the recording.

Davis continues to record as first, one trooper can be seen talking to one of the paramedics. A couple of minutes later, another trooper is seen confronting another paramedic and attempting to arrest him. The paramedic can be seen shoving the trooper at which time the scuffle breaks out.

Maurice White, Jr. is the critical care paramedic seen in the video. In a statement, White says the trooper was upset because the ambulance driver didn’t yield when the trooper approached from behind. White says the ambulance driver, Paul Franks, didn’t see the trooper.

The trooper pulled Franks over and was going to write a citation for failure to yield, but White says he tried to tell them they were on an emergency call and needed to take the patient to the hospital and that’s when the trooper attempted to arrest White for obstructing an officer.

A brief struggle followed, at which point the trooper grabbed White by the throat. Davis’ cell phone captured this incident on video. White says the trooper later told him they could continue on to the hospital, but that he would be under arrest once they got there. White was never arrested, but says troopers told him he should be prepared to turn himself in if a warrant was issued.

The district attorney in Okfuskee County is expected to take a look at the video and may file charges as soon as this week